Preservation of paint brushes



May 17, 1960 G. CLAUDE 2,936,878`

PRESERVATION 0F PAINT BRUSHES Filed June 3, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l' 56 o e o e b Vo o l C y, Z *mxn" 17 ATToRN May 17, 1960 G. CLAUDE PRESERVATION 0E PAINT BRUSHES Filed June 3, 1957 INVENTOR 'fazge Claude ATTOR EY United States Patent-O PREsERvAnoN or PAnsT BRUSHES George Claude, New York, N.Y.

Application June s, 1957, serial No. 663,019 Achims. (ci. zoe-15.1) j

The present invention relates/to receptacles for special purposes and, more particularly, to a method of and a receptacle for storing paint brushes when not in use t prevent the same from hardening. g

One of the problems of painters is to keep their brushes in a soft and pliable condition from the end of one working day to the beginning 0f the next, as well as over ex tended periods. Theusual practice has been to cleanfthe brushes at the end of the day witha paint solvent hoping that they remain in good condition -until they are to be used again. v

This method of cleaning paint brushes is unsatisfactory for several reasons. Washing the brushes with a paint solvent does not remove all the paint between the bristles, particularly at the base where the bristles areheld tightly together by the setting for mountingthem on the handle. Thus,v if the brushes are not used again within the next day or so, the unrernoved paint stiens the bristles.

Any attempt` to vigorously clean the bristles, especially after paint has dried between them and has rendered them stiff, results in bristle breakage which shortens the useful life of'the brush. These difficulties are serious because painters usually have a large number of brushes for different types of work and in many cases only a fewbrushes are used every day while the others may not be required as frequently, whereby stiiening thereof cannot be averted.

Consequently, painters wear out their brushes at a rapid rate and arefaced withthe expense of frequently replacing the sarne. Needless kto mention, brushes used by professional painters are quite costly.

Heretofore, it has been` proposed to prevent x:paint brushes from hardening by providing a receptacle closed by a cover and containing a'pool of paint solvent in which the bristles of the brushes were immersed by susl pending thebristles from a rack. The difficulty with suchv kits was that the paintsolvent increased the weight of the kit and sloshed over thebrush handles. Also, the paint solvent by being'in constant contact with the brush settings deteriorated the same.' After the brushes were so immersed, vthey were unt for use untilV practically all the paint solvent was removed from the` bristles,because otherwisethe'solvent would dilute the paint and cause the brushes to drip at the handle to make them 'unworkable Other and further` `objects will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrativeembodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and' various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects are accomplished by providing a box-like receptacle having a drip pan at the bottom thereof and having racks or hangers therein for suspending a large number of paint brushes and having a cover which is securely at-v tached in a convenient manner to'hermetically seal the receptacle, whereby an atmosphere of paint solvent is established within the receptacle which maintains wet paint brushes in soft and pliable condition for a month or more.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a receptacle in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2,-.2 on Fig. 1. l v

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3 3 on Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line '4-4 on Fig. 3. p I

Fig. 5 is |a fragmentary exploded perspective view illustrating the cover removed from the receptacle. f

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectionalview illustrating a pivotal and vsealing arrangement forv the cover.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a stand for supporting brush racks or hangers adapted to be placed into the receptacle. r Y

Fig. 8 isa perspective view of a brush rack and hanger arrangement.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a multiple brush hanger.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown a brush preserving kit in accordance with the present invention which generally comprises a receptacle '510 havingan open top, a cover 1l for the receptacle, a pan 12 in the receptacle, a stand 14in the receptacle and racks15 supported bythe stand for suspending paint brushesB by their handles with their bristles down (Figs-2 and-3).

As shown herein, the receptacle 10 is an oblong, rec tangular box-like structure having a bottom 16, a front wall 17, a back wall 1'8 and side walls 19. For the purpose of cooperating with the cover V1'1 to provide an artight seal for the interior of the receptacle, the front and side walls have horizontal inwardly extending anges 20 land 21, respectively, at the upper ends thereof andthe back wall 18 has an inwardly extending raised liange 22 (Figs. 2, 3, 5 and 6). This raised flange 22 is provided by extending the back wall and the rearportons of the side walls upwardly above the front wall and theV side flanges '21. The side flanges terminate shortof the'back wall (Fig. 5 and 6)and the raised ange 22 is spaced rearwardlytherefrom to provide openings for the cover, as about to be described. "A f The cover 11 has depending frontend side portions and 2S for receiving the upper end of the front and side walls, with the side portions terminating at the raised flange 22 (Figs. l, 5 and 6), and the cover has a back portion in the form of an upwardly facing channel 26. Sealing means 27 and 2-8 are mounted on the underside of the cover for respectively overlying and engaging the front and side ilanges 20 and 2i, with the side llange sealing means 28 extending from the front flange sealing means 27 to the inner flange of the channel 26. Sealing means 29 are mounted in the channel 26 for engaging the underside of the `raised flange 22. v

The cover 11 is applied to the receptacle by inserting the ends of the back of the channel into the space between the rear end of the side flanges Q21 and the raised liange' 22 and moving the cover forwardly and downwardly from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. l, whereby the sealing `means 2? in the channel slides under the raisedv ange 22 and the lfront and side sealing means 27 and 28, respectively, overlie the flanges 2t) and 21, respectively.

The sealing means are brought into sealing engagement with their respective anges by applying downward pressure at the front of the cover, for example, by hasp means 30 at the front of the receptacle and the cover.

The receptacle and cover arrangement just described provides an airtight seal for the interior of the receptacle in a simple Vand practical manner and at the same time eliminates the cost of hinges and -the expense of providing adequate sealing means for hinged covers. The cover also is readily removable and replaceable, and the necessary sealing pressure is supplied simply by fastening the hasp means 30.

The drip pan 12 (Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 7) preferably is rectangular and has a bottom 31 and front, back and side walls 32,y 33 and 34, respectively. r`i`he height dimension of these walls is much less ythan fthat of the length and width dimensions of the bottom, whereby the pan is relatively shallow. Actually, these Walls could be much shorter than shown 'to enable the pan to accomplish its drip collecting function, but preferably the walls are as tall Eas shown vfor the purpose about to bedescribed.

The stand 14 (Figs. 4 and 7) is a rectangular structure including four legsrj36 in the form of angle members which are snugly fitted into the corners of the drip pan and are lapped by'thepan walls for a suflicient height to so retain the same. -*The `upper ends of the legs 36 are connected by front, black and side members 37, 38 and 39,

respectively, lwith opposite pairs of members Vhaving rack supporting means thereon of different types.

VTo accomplish this, the side members 39 (Fig. 7) have upwardly facing notches 40 for cooperating with downwardly facing notches 41 formed at the ends of a rack 15, such as shown in Fig. 8. This rack has spaced parallel elements 42 `and 44 between the ends thereof lfor accommodating individual brush holders 45.

`The front and back members 37 and 3S are channels having upper and Ilower sections d'6 and 47 which arerformed with aligned apertures 48 for supporting a rack 1-5, such as shown in Fig. 9. This rack is formed of stii, rod-like material or wire and has depending portions 49 at its ends adapted for insertion vinto the aligned apertures 4S of both sections to prevent the rack 1'5 from turning and dropping brushes mounted thereon. The rack 15 is formed between its ends with loops 56 which serve as brush vhandle holders.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the height of the legs 36 is such that the racks v15 and 1'5' are supported well above the drip pan so that the free ends of the brush bristles are spaced above the pan and do notextend into the same. With this arrangement, when the wet brushes are Supported as shown and the cover is sealed on the receptacle, the paint drippings are ,collected by the pau 12. Since the bottom of the pan has a relatively large surfaceparea, the paint solvent in the drippings will tend to evaporate quite rapidly to `the-relay create ,e denseatmosphere of solvent vapors. These vapors have been found to have -a suilicient density to act as a solvent for the paint remaining between the brush bristles to prevent the paint from hardening. Tests have demonstrated that the bristles are kept soft and pliable for more than a month by employing this method of preserving the same, and that the brushes are then ready for immediate use Without yany cleaning or other treatment whatsoever.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention Vprovides an `arranentrent for keeping paint brushes in working order for long periods of time `between use without any care on the part of the painter. The kit is light in weight, even when .loaded with brushes and can be carried conveniently by handles (not shown) either placed on Ythecover or on opposite sides.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction, and arrangement of the parts herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any [of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matters are to be` interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A kit for preserving used paint brushes comprising a box-like receptacle; a normally empty drip pan at the bottom of said receptacle; means in said receptacle for supporting a paint brush with its bristles down above said pan; said receptacle having an open top provided with an inwardly extending ange at the front thereof, an inwardly extending flange at each side thereof extending from said front flange and terminating short of the back of said receptacle, and an inwardly extending raised ange at theV back thereof spaced from the rear ends of said side flangesa cover pivotally carried by said receptacle having depending front and side portions for receiving p the upper end of the front and sides of said receptacle with the side portions of said cover terminating at said raised flange and having a back portion formed with `an upwardly facing channel; sealing means at the underside of said cover for overlying and engaging said front and side anges; and sealing means in said channel for extending under said raised ange and engaging the underside thereof. Y

2. A kit according to claim l, including hasp means at the front of said receptacle and said cover for urging said sealing means downwardly on said front and side anges and upwardly against saidv back ange.

3. A kit according to claim 1, wherein said drip pan is relatively shallow and said brush supporting means is a stand including removable brush supporting racks.

4. Akit for preserving used paint brushes comprising a box-like receptacle having an open top, said receptacle including front and side walls with inwardly directed anges at the upper ends thereof and a back wall with inwardly directed flanges at its upper end elevated above said ilanges of the front and side walls, saidside `wall flanges terminating short of the back wall and said back wall flange terminating on said side walls so as to provide an opening between said back wall flange and each of said side wall flanges, a closure for said open top adapted -to provide an airtight seal, said closure including'depending front and side portions for respectively receiving the `upper ends of said front and side walls and a back portion with .an upwardly facing channel for insertion through said opening into engagement with said anges for pivotal movement therebetween, sealing means ou said closure adjacent said depending vfront and side portions for respectively engaging upper surfaces of said front and side Y anges and sealing means within said channel for engaging an under surface of said back Wall flange when in a closed position, a relatively shallow, normally'empty drip pan supported on the bottom of said receptacle, a stand in said receptacle having legs for supporting the same, and -a rack supported by -said stand for suspending a paint brush by its handle with its bristles down, said rack being 5 Y spaced in a vertical direction from said pan by said stand for a sucient distance to prevent the free ends of the bristles from extending into said pan.

Y References Cited in the kle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Adriance Mar. 11, 1890 6 Ietmund No'v. 26, 1918 Sather Apr. 5, 1921 Kurath et al Ian. 20, 1942` Buhoveckey May 31, 1949 Yenne July 28, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Mar. 2, 1937 

